Zuko
Zuko was born into the royal family of the Fire Nation as crown prince. Even though he would be crown prince, his father and grandfather preferred his much more skilled and cunning sister to him, since he had no other friends he only had his mother for support, who one day disappeared. When he attended the war council for the first time Zuko spoke out of turn against a general who wanted to use a group of soldiers as bait. Since he spoke out of turn in the room of his father, Fire Lord Ozai, it was taken as an insult and demanded that Zuko partook in a fire bending duel. Unaware that his opponent was going to be his own father he accepted. When he realized that he was to fight his own father during the duel, Zuko dropped to his knees and refused to fight his father, who in turn scarred his face and banished him from the Fire Nation, only allowing him to return if he was able to capture or kill the Avatar, who was missing for a 100 years. With only a small ship, crew, and his uncle, Iroh, as a guide, he set off the regain his honor. Zuko's journy would take him across the world, eventually ending up at the Southern Water Tribe where he finally found the Avatar, a young boy named Aang. He managed to capture him, but Aang escaped with the help of Sokka and Katara, a pair of twins he befriended earlier. Zuko would pursue Aang and his friends, but because of his own inability to capture Aang, he and Iroh were labelled traitors causing the two to become refugees in the Earth Kingdom. Ending up as owners of a teashop in Ba Sing Se. Zuko would soon be confronted by his sister Azula who promised him that he could return if he aided her in killing Aang, which he accepted, betraying his uncle. After his return to the Fire Nation, he became increasingly conflicted eventually deciding to betray his father and joined Aang's side and taught him fire bending as well as providing him information about his father's plans which proofed instrumental in Ozai's defeat. Now that his father and sister were imprisoned, Zuko became the new Firelord and together with Aang established the United Republic of Nations out of the old Fire Nation colonies. In his old age, he stepped down as Fire Lord, becoming ambassador instead, and aided the next Avatar, Korra, after Aang's death. Battle vs. Shang Tsung (by JWarrior89) Zuko is riding his Ostrich horse through the mountains. He knows the Avatar is somewhere nearby; he saw his flying bison heading in this direction. Rounding a corner, he sees a large palace off in the distance. Thinking the Avatar might be hiding inside, he urges his mount forward. Upon reaching the entrance to the palace, Zuko dismounts his Ostrich horse and approaches the large front doors. With great effort, he forces them open and heads inside. As he explores the palace halls, he notices something strange; the place seems deserted, yet lit torches adorn the walls. Somebody has to be here... but who? As he enters the throne room, a voice calls out, "Enjoying your little tour, boy?" Zuko stops dead; sitting on the throne is a muscular man with dark hair. "Who are you?" Zuko asks. "I am Shang Tsung, and you are trespassing in my palace." the man replies, rising to his feet. "Sorry," Zuko says, "I meant no disrespect. I was looking for someone. I'll leave now." He turns to leave, but a noise causes him to look back. With a yell, he ducks to avoid a fireball that just misses his head. "You're not going anywhere," Shang Tsung says, "I challenge you to Mortal Kombat!" "Look, buddy," Zuko growls, "I don't know what this so-called Mortal Kombat is, but I don't have time for this!" "Fight!" Shang Tsung yells, shooting another fireball. Zuko blocks the fireball, extinguishing it. Shang Tsung looks mildly suprised. Zuko runs forward and leaps into the air, performing a spinning kick. A stream of fire shoots out from his foot and flies toward Shang Tsung, who leaps over the flame arc and shoots two fireballs out to either side. The two fireballs form a ring as they curve in midair and fly at Zuko from both sides. Zuko leaps out of the way as the fireballs collide. Zuko unleashes a flurry of fire blasts from his fists, but Shang Tsung dodges most of them, and blasts the rest in midair with his own fireballs. Zuko draws his dual dao swords, while Shang Tsung draws his straight sword. The two charge each other and engage in a brutal sword battle. Neither opponent can seem to gain an edge, Shang Tsung's experience matched by Zuko's additional blade. Shang Tsung goes for a downward slash, but Zuko catches the blade with his own swords and kicks Shang Tsung in the stomach, causing him to fall backward and disarming him of his sword. Shang Tsung quickly leaps to his feet. Zuko moves forward, but suddenly Shang Tsung transforms into Kano! Zuko stops dead, stunned. Shang Tsung/Kano fires his eyebeam, but Zuko is able to roll out of the way. He deflects a second eyebeam blast with his swords and does a sweeping kick, sending another stream of fire at Shang Tsung. Shang Tsung leaps over the fire again and transforms into Sub-Zero. He fires an ice blast that freezes Zuko solid. He lets out a laugh in victory, but Zuko uses his firebending to melt the ice and free himself. Frusturated, Shang Tsung transforms again, this time into Scorpion. "Get over here!" he yells, launching his spear at Zuko, catching him and pulling him forward. Shang Tsung/Scorpion then proceeds to deliver a series of brutal punches and kicks to Zuko's face and chest. Zuko stumbles backward, and Shang Tsung/Scorpion delivers a final uppercut to his chin, launching him into the air and sending him crashing to the floor. Shang Tsung changes back into his original form and approaches Zuko, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck. "Your soul is mine!" he says and holds his other hand above Zuko's chest. His hand starts glowing green, and Zuko can feel his life force being drained away. Suddenly, a noise makes Shang Tsung look up. "Who are you!?" he says. Without warning, a blast of air blows him back; Zuko falls backward and blacks out. Zuko wakes up in a cave, sunlight pouring in through the entrance. He tries to get up, but a sharp pain in his chest forces him to lie back down. "You'd better rest," a young voice says, "you took quite a beating back there." Zuko looks over; a young boy, looking no older than 12, wearing orange monk robes and completely bald, is watching him from the other wall. "The Avatar!" Zuko growls, and tries to move again, but the pain once again forces him to lie down. "I have to get back to my friends, but I'll send someone to help you." Aang says, walking to the cave entrance. He stops, turning to Zuko. "We don't have to be enemies, you know." With that, he activates his glider and flies away. WINNER: SHANG TSUNG Expert's Opinion While Zuko was skilled, he was still in his teens. Despite having seen a lot more action than a lot of adults, this was still not comparable to the amount of combat experience Shang Tsung had. Zuko was a powerful fire bender as well, but Shang had collected the souls of almost all of his fallen opponents, and was able to use their magical abilities to his advantage. That, along with his transformation which would really catch Zuko off guard, won him the day. To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here. 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